Special Episode — A to Z of Touring with Lastelle (and special announcement!)
In a unique format today we have a VERY epic privilege of talking to our good friends in Lastelle - formerly featured on Dear Untitled - both the podcast and on the blog - this emotional post hardcore act really has their teeth in us and the UK - so much so that we are showcasing a special feature for a very big announcement inside this episode - you gotta listen to find out. (You can also read below to get a abbreviated version of the convo!)
What we CAN tell you though is that we join the young act on a journey in this special and go 'on tour' as we listen to Lastelle explain their tour life, step by step, and what that looks like - ah, the good ol, pre-covid lockdown days! Massive shout out to James from Year Of the Rat Records and Rich and Fred of Lastelle! Hopefully the banter cheers some of you up - dive in and enjoy, this special feature with our friends from Lastelle! - Nic (Dear Untitled)
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION (Summary):
Part 1 - Signing Announcement - (1:00-8:08)
"We are launching the single on Friday Aug 7th, to land on playlists and algorithms and such....we wanted to hit hard with the video (on Dreambound- Tuesday Aug 4th) as we feel that that is the best way that we feel fans can take in what we are doing with the single..." - Freddie Whatamore
"…We love the community that we have come to be a part of on Dreambound, so they are really keen for us to maintain that relationship as well!…" - Freddie
"...Word of mouth is such an important thing, especially withing the niche/subgenre we play in, its really important to be able to share that stuff around - the internet is such a great place to discover things like that..."- Freddie
"It really shows that every post and every share really counts because that could reach someone, that if you didn't post it, they may never find us - so you know, share your favorite bands, we all appreciate it!" - Rich Lester
"Its that sort of thing where you post something and it shows up in one person's feed, and then another feed, and then it begins to snowball....It's really helpful if you pre-save an artists' single - its a great way to help the artist get playlisted. Really helps the playlisting and really helps the artist..." - Freddie
"..The terms that James from Year of the Rat fit just right with our DIY methods and way of existing and so far its been everything that we wanted..." - Rich
LASTELLE FACT: ....Lastelle’s last show was in fact, their very first London show supporting Behind Blue Eyes, with XIII Weeks, and Centuries!
Part 2 - How Does Touring with Lastelle Work? - (8:09-33:54)
Q: Step 1: How do you make a tour? (8:09-16:31)
"We've always had a booking agent in our corner helping us, which has been great....Some bands go through our agent to get to us, or if there is a band that we want to play with we use our agent to reach out to them and say "hey- we want to be on tour together"...Be willing to travel and make the effort for shows and be willing to accept the fact that they may not always hit your expectations - but if you can learn to enjoy the process...that's where you start to see the rewards. If you really like traveling and you like music, then I can't think of anything better than combining that (and touring as a band)" - Freddie
"...We learned early on through our other bands that its much easier when you have someone fighting in your corner to email venues and promoters like that, mainly because it comes across more professional to have someone representing you because there are SO many bands out there...its a sea of artists looking to play shows...Be nice guys, network with other bands you play with, and make sure your live show is sick - the shows will start coming to you..." - Rich
Q: Step 2: So you have your booking agent helping, and you're booking a tour - how do you decide where you go and where to play across a whole country? (16:32 - 26:24)
"With organizing with a venue and working with the booking agent, there is a lot of compromise and schedule coordination...its the desire to be flexible which is important. There are a bunch of cities on our to-do list which we've never been, but there are also a lot of places that we want to play - just going to be a case of seeing what we can get and play some shows..." - Freddie
"..When you're at our level, there’s not a lot of choice - you kinda get what you're given and decide if you can make it work or not - because there is not a lot of money in it and you have to be sensible with how you're driving around the UK...." - Rich
“...Lastelle hopes to one day visit the niches of Europe and corners of their own country - the UK (Scotland, Brighton, London)…”
Q: Step 3: Ok, so we load up the van, hop in - who is driving and what are we listening to? (26:25-33:54)
"...Well we are a bunch of cheapskates - we (Lastelle) all pile into the work van that Adam and I (Rich) have for our video production - it can just about fit 5 of us with all our gear...its a game of tetris. That's one of my favorite parts of tour, we're all really good friends so going on tour is like a little holiday (vacation)!..." - Rich
"...I think everyone, all except Mike, has driven the van at various points - if we have to take the backline (drums and such) we have to take a second van and Mike will drive that. We've made playlists in the past for the trip and tried to keep it fairly even on everyone's songs on the list but because we have a fairly eclectic taste between the band of what we listen to, it definitely causes some discussions amongst the members. (A No-Skip Rule as well! - Rich chimes in!). We all just crack on some music, put the windows down and have a laugh..." - Freddie
"...We have a few rules in the van - positivity only, no beef with each other in the van, and from day one we've all said that we should try and make this an enjoyable experience and its really nice to be in the same van with other people who share that same mindset....and there's always a sing along, that helps!..." - Freddie
Q: ....Who is the first to ask "Are We There yet?"
"Mike" - Rich/Freddie
Q: ....Who is the father figure who turns around and says "Don't make me pull this car over?"
"I think you know your answer - its Rich!" - Freddie
"I'm a very organized person and I have everything in order so we can get settled in...I'm the "dad" of the van.." - Rich
Q: Step 4: We roll up to the venue - whats the first move? (33:55 - 45:09)
"..I will run straight to the toilet because I pride myself in staying hydrated...but in all seriousness we go in, talk to the venue, meet and introduce ourselves to the other bands and acts, just because we really enjoy making friends, and thanking the band who has brought us out..." - Freddie
"...This is me being organized dad again - a lot of the venues in the UK don't have great parking, so parking the van is the first priority THEN you get to go in and be sociable..." - Rich
Q:....Who does the least amount for load in?
"...Guess who has the most equipment...and who isn't carrying the weight? No he's not like that, I promise - he's in socializing and getting acquainted which is fantastic ....I can't wait until he listens to this though and tells me off for it..." - Rich
Q:....How does Lastelle manage stage setup and backing tracks? (38:27)
"You'll hear string arrangements on backing tracks, but all the guitar parts you hear are us playing - as you can see proof of from Jonjo's pedalboard if you make it to a gig" - Rich
"..To build on that - this is something that we as a band have discussed and its important to us, is making sure to keep all vocals as live as possible - we don't put a single vocal in the backing track. This isn't to throw shade at any other band, this is just how we like to do it..." - Freddie
(...sorry to Mike! )
"We love live music and people go to see people perform, not to listen to something that is pre-recorded, it can help in situations, but if there is someone who can do that in the band, you might as well play it..." - Rich
"If someone putting say a bass part on a backing track and that's the way that lets them get out and play live shows, then there is no shade and no right or wrong way to do it, this is just the way we try to do it as Lastelle - keep it as live as possible..." - Freddie
Q: Step 5: The Show - how many jitters do you have? (45:10 - 48:42)
"...These days I don't really get nervous before a show - only if we are playing new stuff - and that is only me worrying that I'll forget what we are playing. I've come to know how my brain works now - I've come to rely on muscle memory and not think when I play...usually I'm just excited to go.." - Rich
"...I'm in the same camp - I don't necessarily get that nervous or worried before I play a show anymore. With this band, the first show I played I was a bit nervous, but then I thought "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't able to do it". Having a short changeover time on the otherhand can cause me to get a little bit stressed ....I just enjoy doing it...Muscle memory is a really big part of it" - Freddie
Q: Step 6: Show has been played - you engaged the crowd, and set ends - what's next? (48:43 - 54:19)
"Get your stuff off the stage as quick as you can" - Freddie
"..Playing support roles more often than not, you have people who will come up to you and want to talk and ask questions about the gear, tell you great set, I loved that song, etc, and its always great to talk to them but with such short changeovers between bands - 10-15 minutes for us to get off and them to get on -once that's done we can relax and talk to people and catch our breath..." - Rich
"Once the stage is clear and all our stuff is clear - that's when you can finally hit that bit of zen and you can really take it all in - but there's always about a 15 minute window before you can really get into the music conversation with someone.." - Freddie
NEW MERCH COMING WITH A NEW TRACK (LISTEN IN @ 50:45)
(T-shirt, waterbottle, and handmade prints)
Q: Step 7: Merch is sold - van is packed, what does leaving the venue look like? (54:20 - 1:01:24)
"With using our own work van it allows us to have a little more flexibiility with accomodations as a band, and we all love sleeping in a bed....But those chats and conversations after the gig can be some of the most fun times of tour, talking about how the gig went for each of us, what kind of reactions we had from people - its so much fun...we'll essentially get feedback.." - Rich
"I can agree - I love catching up and chatting after a gig...some times its the first time we've really gotten to talk to each other the whole night with everything we are trying to rush through and set up. Some of those post gig chats are really fun, some of them are really insightful as well. You can really get some interesting feedback from people and fundamentally that's what you really need to know...how can we maybe do better for the next show?..." - Freddie
"Make sure to not just spend the whole day at the venue - try and get out and do things to experience the location that you are playing at...I think its not like a holiday, but its more like a working holiday where we are having as much fun as possible...There's tons of the world to see, just gotta plan correctly and get out there..." - Freddie
Chit chat - global experiences and other travel conversation (1:01:25 - 1:08:00)
....trips of the band and global experiences, traveling, and analyzing new experiences as a whole!